Ice holder and dispenser



Sept. 13, 1960 M. w. GARLAND ICE HOLDER AND DISPENSER 3 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed Sept. 3, 1958 INVENTOR M. W. GA RLA ND BY m z I ATTORNEY Sept. 13,1960 M. w. GARLAND 2,952,391

ICE HOLDER AND DISPENSER Filed Sept. 3, 1958 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORMW. GARLAND Sept. 13, 1960 M. w. GARLAND 2,952,3391

ICE HOLDER AND DISPENSER Filed Sept. 3, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet I5 ICEHOLDER 'AND DISPENSER Milton W. Garland, Waynesboro, Pa., assignor, bymesne assignments, to Frick Company, Waynesboro, Pa., a corporation ofPennsylvania Filed Sept. 3, 1958, Ser. No. 758,799

Claims. (Cl. 222-80) This invention relates to the production, storage,distribution, and dispensing of ice in relatively small bodies orparticles for use in temperature modification including in connectionwith the packaging and shipping of perishable foods and othercommodities.

The invention relates particularly to a chamber, bin, or storage roomfor holding small particles of ice and to apparatus or equipment fordispensing such ice from such chamber, bin, or storage room inaccordance with requirements and regardless of the volume or quantity ofice within such chamber, bin, or storage room.

Ice for use in various ways has been produced in cakes and crushed, inchips, flakes, small bodies, particles or pieces, and has been stored inbins or contained in room or storage areas from which it has beendispensed both manually and mechanically.

The dispensing of ice in crushed condition or in small particles hasbeen done manually and mechanically neither of which has beensatisfactory. Manual removal has been too slow, dependent upon the humanelement, and expensive, manpower having become shorter, and wageshigher. On account of the use of ice, it has become necessary toaccelerate or increase the quantity produced as well as the rate ofdispensing the same.

Mechanical devices have been inefiicient the amount dispensed varyingwith the change in the size of the mass and the particles havingcongealed and forced a bridge between the side walls preventing thegravitation of the ice and interfering with the dispensing thereof.

It is an object of the invention to provide apparatus or mechanism fordispensing ice in small particles, which dispensing mechanism is ofrelatively simple and inexpensive construction, and positive inoperation regardless of the amount of ice available and whether theparticles of ice have congealed into a frozen mass, or are subject toother conditions which heretofore have interfered with the operation ofthe dispensing mechanism and the dispensing of the ice.

Another object of the invention is to provide dispensing mechanismwhich, instead of removing ice from the top of a pile or mass, willremove the ice from the entire bottom area thereof, such mechanismincluding movable cutting or detaching means, operable over the entirebottom area of the mass of ice.

A further object of the invention is to provide a chamber, bin orstorage area for ice of small particle size, such chamber being definedby side walls, a movable floor or bottom with a discharge opening and acutter in fixed relation thereto movable with the fioor over the entireunder surface of the ice mass, and powered to drive the cuttingmechanism in a manner to dispense the ice during such movement.

States Patent.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be 2 Fig. 2, asection on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3, an end elevation viewed from right to left in Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 4, an enlarged fragmentary side elevation of th rotary cutter;

Fig. 5, an end elevation of the cutter of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6, a perspective of a modified form of the invention;

Fig. 7, an enlarged fragmentary side elevation of the driving end of theembodiment of Fig. 6, with parts broken away; i

Fig. 8, a section on the line 8-8 of Fig. 7;

Fig. 9, a section on the line 9--9 of Fig. 7;

Fig. 10, a top plan view of a further modified form of the invention; a

Fig. 11, a vertical section on the line Ill-11 of Fig. 10; and

Fig. 12, an enlarged fragmentary vertical section on the line 1212 ofFig. 10.

Briefly stated the invention is a holder of any desired shape such asrectangular, circular or the like for fragmentary ice. The holderincludes side wall structure enlarged or diverging slightly from top tobottom to prevent the ice from congealing and forming a bridge so thatit can not move downwardly by gravity. Beneath the side wall structureis a movable bottom with a discharge opening for the ice thereon and adevice for engaging, freeing and causing ice to fall downwardly and bedischarged through such discharge opening. The discharge opening and thecutter may be of elongated generally rectangular shape, and the cuttermay be aroller With spaced projections spirally arranged around thesame. The cutter may be of a length corresponding substantially to thewidth of the bottom and with the bottom reciprocable to cause the cutterto travel over the entire area of the bottom and beneath the entire massof ice in the chamber. If preferred the chamber or bin may be in theform of the inverted frustum of a cone and with a circular rotary bottomand a radially disposed cutter. Power means is employed for driving thecutting mechanism and for producing the necessary movement of the bottomof the device. The discharged ice may be collected in any desiredmanner.

With continued reference to the drawings, ice particles 10 to bedispensed may be produced in any desired manner and adapted to be placedwithin a bin or chamber having end walls 11, side walls 12, and aslidable bottom wall or bottom 13. r

The end and side walls 11 and 12 diverge slightly from top to bottom sothat their lower edges are spaced slightly further apart than theirupper edges to prevent ice from forming a bridge between them thuspreventing it from moving by gravity downwardly against the bottom 13 atall times. p p

The sides 11 and 12 are supported by pairs of frame members 14 and 15respectively, joined by reinforcing members 16. The ends and sides alsoare supported near their bottoms by reinforcing brackets or gussets 17so that in effect the bin or chamber is open at both bot tom and top andthe bottom 13 forms a closure for the bottom and on this closure the icewithin the bin is supported.

The bin or chamber is mounted on four corner posts 18 welded orotherwise fastened to the members 14 and 15 to which the ends and sides11 and 12 are secured by welding or in other desired manner, the partsbeing preferably metal.

The bottom 13 is mounted between and welded or otherwise secured toparallel side members 19 having their upper portions provided with anoutwardlyand downwardly extending portion 20 1 to. provide. spaced 1111Patented Sept. 13, 196(1 right supp rting Walls o a p o al bea ng 21 nhi is mounted a roller 22 which rests upon a T-shaped side bar or track23. Four of such shafts 21 and rollers 22 are provided, one adjacenteach corner of the bottom although additional rollers and supportingshafts may be used if desired.

The bottom 13 is provided with an ice discharge opening 24 in which ismounted an ice cutter in the form of a roller 25 having relativelyshort, blunt cutter teeth 26. The teeth are mounted in pairs spirallyaround and along the length of the roller in spaced relation.

The roller v25 is mounted on shaft members 27 carried in bearings .28 inthe side members 19 and the roller being driven by means of a pulley 29fixed to the shaft 27, such pulley being engaged by a belt 30 drivenfrom a pulley 31 on the shaft 32 of a motor 33.

The bottom 13 with the roller 25 attached may reciprocate beneath thebin and in order to cause reversal of its motion a pair of pins 34 and35 are provided which are adapted to engage reversing switches 36 and37. These switches control the operation of a reversible, variable speedmotor drive 38 which drives a chain belt 39 and a sprocket 40 havingattached thereto a pinion 41 engaging a rack 42 fixed to the track 23.When the armature of the motor 38 operates in one direction the pinion41 will travel along the rack 42 to cause the bottom to move accordinglycarrying with it the rotating cutter 25 which will remove ice at thelowest level within the bin as it travels from one end to the other andacross the entire bottom area of the bin.

The ice thus dislodged may fall by gravity downwardly through theopening 24 onto a conveyor 43 mounted on rollers 44 one at each end ofthe machine and from this conveyor the ice may be discharged ontoanother conveyor 45 mounted on rollers 46. Thus, ice contained withinthe bin may be positively dispensed without in ter-ruption which mightbe caused by freezingand bridging. Also the invention permits continuousfilling of the bin and removal of the ice instead of the necessity forinterrupting the removal or losing time while the removal and filling isbeing accomplished and necessitating separate operations.

Instead of a single cutter roller adapted to travel a. substantialdistance across the entire bottom of the mass of ice, a bottom such asthat disclosed in Figs. 6, 7 and 8, may be provided. This bottom mayhave a plurality of openings 24 and a corresponding number of rotatingcutters 25 operated in any desired manner as, for example, by a singledrive chain 47 engaging about spaced sprockets 48 on the roller shafts27, one of said shafts having a sprocket 49 (Fig. 8) fixed thereto anddriven by a chain 50 extending about a sprocket 51.(Fig. 9) fixed to asleeve 52, such sleeve being rotatably mounted on a shaft 53 carried ina reciprocable bottom 54 similar to the bottom 13 of the precedingfigures and in which bottom the openings 24 are transversely disposed.The bottom 54 is carried by a pair of sides 55 having their upperportions bent outwardly, downwardly and inwardly to provide a hollow boxbeam 56 in which are mounted rollers 57 (Fig. 8) which roll along tracks58 attached to a supporting channel 59 carried by posts 60 at each endof the machine. This construction permits the bottom 54' to reciprocatein its mounting, the rollers 57 rolling along the track 58 approximatelyone-third of the distance of that of Fig. v1.

The posts 60 support a bin 61 by means of a supporting frame having sidemembers 62 and end members 63. Such bin being slightly longer and widerat its bottom than at its top to prevent bridging of ice across thesame.

In order to reciprocate the bottom 54 a pair of racks 64 are secured ontop of the box beam 56 and these racks are engaged by pinions 65 fixedon a shaft 66 mounted in bearings 67, one at each side of the machine.'Betweenthe pinions 65 the shafthas fixed thereon a sprocket 68 drivenby a chain 69 engaging a smaller sprocket 70 on the shaft 71 of a motor72 mounted on a pair of supporting rails 73 attached at one end to theend members 63 and having their other ends attached to a supporting beam74 carried by brackets 75 attached to the channel members 59.

In order that ice discharged through the openings 24 may be directed toone side of the machine, a transverse U-shaped housing 76 (Fig. 7) maybe provided about each roller and in the bottom of which is mounted ascrew conveyor 77 on a shaft 78. A sprocket 79 is mounted on the end ofeach of the shafts 78 and is driven by a chain 80 from a sprocket 81mounted on and driven by the shaft 27. The opposite end of the screwconveyor 77 is journaled in bearing 82 and the end of the U-shapedhousing 76 is provided with an opening 83 for the discharge of icetherethrough.

In order to cause rotation of the ice cutter rollers 25 and the conveyorscrew 77, a sprocket 84 is mounted on the rotatable sleeve 52 and suchsprocket is driven by a chain 85 from a sprocket 86 mounted on a shaft87 of a motor 88.-

Instead of a square or rectangular bin with a reciprocating bottom asdisclosed in the preceding figures a circular slightly frusto-conicalbin 89 may be employed having its small end uppermost to prevent icebridging as previously described and with upright inwardly projectingribs 90 to prevent the mass of ice within the bin from rotating with thebottom or floor 91 as ice is dispensed.

The bin 89 is supported by an annular frame 92 mounted on a seriespreferably of equally spaced supporting plates 93 of any desired number,four being disclosed. The supporting plates 93 are mounted on posts 94which rest upon a floor or other supporting surface. The plates 93 arewelded or otherwise secured to the members 92 and 94 so that the bin ismaintained in fixed position.

The floor or bottom 91 is provided with an opening 95 for a cutterroller 25 having teeth 26, such cutter roller being mounted on a shaft96 (Fig. 12) having a reduced portion 97 supported in a bearing 98attached to the floor 91. The shaft 96 is supported by means of abearing 99 in a roller 100 which rests upon a circular track 101 mountedon annular flanges 102 and 103, and supported by a series of plates 104mounted on brackets 105 carried by the posts 94.

The shaft 96, having the reduced portion 97, has a further reducedportion 106 on which is mounted a ro-. tatable sleeve bearing 107 towhich are fixed a small sprocket 108 and a driving gear '109 driven by aring gear 110 formed of the outer perimeter of the track 101. Thus, whenthe bottom is rotated on the rollers 100 the driving gear 109 will berotated by its contact with the fixed ring gear 110. Thus, driving thesleeve portion 107, the small sprocket 108, and a chain 111 which inturn drives a sprocket 1-12 fixed to the shaft 113 carrying a sprocket114 which drives a chain 115 which drives a sprocket 116 fixed to thereduced portion of the shaft 96.

Thus, this end direct drive provides a reduction in gearing as well as apositive drive. The bottom 91 is driven by a variable speed motor 117mounted on a platform or support 118, such motor having a shaft 119which in'turn drives through a gear reduction box 120', a shaft 121 at aslow speed, such shaft being mounted in one or more bearings 122 andhaving a driven gear 123 which projects through openings 124 in thefloor 91 for rotating the bottom of the bin.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that when the motor 117 isenergized the bottom or floor of the bin will be rotated by the drivinggear 123 and due to the rotation of the floor, the ring gear of thefloor 110 will engage the sprocket 109 and the chain of gear reductionelements will drive the gear 116 and the shaft of the cutting roller.

The bottom 91 may have a reinforcing flange or ring 91 dependingtherefnom and such ring may be employed to support a stub shafit 106which supports the rollers 100 which are disposed at right angles to thecutter 25 and likewise may form a support for a boss 125 in which isdisposed a depending stub shaft 126 on the lower portion of which ismounted a roller 127 which engages the [inside of the track 102.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes maybe made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scopethereof and therefore the invention is not limited by that which isillustrated in the drawings and described in the specification, but onlyas indicated in the accompanying claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Ice holding and dispensing mechanism comprising side wall structurediverging slightly from top to bottom for preventing the ice fromforming a bridge between the side wall structure to stop its downwardmovement by gravity, a bottom beneath said side wall structure andhaving an opening for the discharge of ice downwardly therethrough, saidbottom being movable and the relation of the opening therein and saidbottom being such that the opening may be moved beneath the entire areabetween the side wall structure making it possible to remove ice fromevery portion thereof, ice dislodging means of a configuration anddisposed within the opening in said bottom and having ice engagingprojections extending upwardly in said opening for engaging the iceresting .on said bottom to dislodge the same so that it may drop bygravity through said discharge opening, power means for driving said icedislodging means and for moving said bottom to change the location ofsaid ice dislodging means.

2. Ice holding and dispensing mechanism comprising side wall structurediverging slightly from top to bottom for preventing the ice fromforming a bridge across such side wall structure to stop its downwardmovement by gravity, a bottom beneath said side wall structure andhaving an opening for the discharge of ice downwardly therethrough, icedislodging means projecting upwardly in said opening for loosening theice so that it may drop by gravity through said discharge opening, saidbottom being movable with said dispensing opening and ice dislodgingmeans along the bottom of the pile of ice, said ice dislodging meansbeing provided with spaced ice engaging elements, and driving means forsaid ice dislodging means and for the movement of said bottom.

3. Ice holding and dispensing mechanism comprising relatively stationaryupright side wall structure diverging slightly from top to bottom toprevent ice contained between such side wall structure from bridging andpreventing it from moving downwardly by gravity, :1 bottom incooperative relation beneath and movable relative to said side wallstructure, said movable bottom having an opening for the discharge ofice therethrough, and cutter means extending upwardly in said opening todislodge and cause the discharge of ice through said opening, and meansfor producing simultaneous motion of said cutter and bottom with respectto said upright side wall structure.

4. Ice holding and dispensing mechanism comprising side Wall structure,a bottom beneath said side wall structure and having an opening for thedischarge of ice downwardly therethrough, ice dislodging meansprojecting upwardly in said opening for loosening the ice so that it maydrop by gravity through said discharge opening, said bottom beingmovable with said dispensing opening and ice dislodging means along thebottom of the pile of ice, said ice dislodging means being provided withspaced ice engaging elements, and driving means for said ice dislodgingmeans and for the movement of said bottom.

5. The structure of claim 3 in which said bottom is generallyrectangular, and carriage means and a track supporting the latter.

6. The structure of claim 3 in which said bin is provided with a movablebottom supporting said ice dislodging means.

7. Ice hold-ing and dispensing mechanism comprising circular side wallstructure diverging slightly from top to bottom to prevent bridging andfailure of the ice to gravitate, said side wall structure having uprightinternal ribs to prevent rotation of the mass of ice in said bin, arotatable bottom closing the lower end of said circular bin and having atransversely located dispensing opening, an ice dislodging member havingmeans extending through said opening for engaging and dislodging icewithin the bin so that it may be discharged. through said opening, meansfor producing relative rotation between said bottom and the side wallstructure of said bin to cause rotary movement of said ice dislodgingmeans.

8. A circular load sustaining member, a sleeve supporting said loadsustaining member, anti-riction means supporting said sleeve, ring gearsmeans mounted on the periphery of said sleeve, a motor and gear adaptedto drive said ring gears means, a rotary cutter carried by said sleeve,a shaft supporting said rotary cutter, a second ring gears means, anindependently rotatable gear on said shaft and in engagement with saidsecond ring gears means, a first pulley adapted to rotate with saidindependently rotatable gear, a belt connecting said first pulley to asecond pulley, a third pulley adapted to rotate with said second pulley,an independent shaft extending from said sleeve and supporting saidsecond and third pulleys, a second 'belt connecting said third pulley toa fourth pulley fixed to said rotary cutter shaft, said pulleys beingadapted to drive said cutter at a different speed than said sleeve whensaid cutter comes into contact with a load on said load sustainingmember.

9. Ice holding and dispensing mechanism as set forth in claim 3 in whichthe bottom is generally circular and rotatable and with a radiallydisposed discharge opening.

10. Ice holding and dispensing mechanism as set forth in claim 3 inwhich the bottom is generally circular and rotatable and with a radiallydisposed discharge opening, and with a sleeve supporting said circularbottom, a motor driven gear and a ring gear for driving said bottom fromsaid sleeve.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS473,952 Ozley May 3, 1892 1,113,229 Lyle Oct. 13, 1914 1,143,634 Lane eta1 June 22, 1915 1,398,047 Stevens Nov. 22, 1921 2,070,349 Woodrufi Feb.9, 1937 2,286,554 Lieberman June 16, 1942 2,689,092 Clark et al. Sept.14, 1954 2,726,792 Seymour Dec. 13, 1955 2,727,542 Fischer Dec. 20, 19552,796,198 Weige1 et al. June 18, 1957 2,796,202 Lawrence et al. June 18,1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 804,828 Great Britain Nov. 26, 1958

